Did you know that you can get specialized training so that you can become a tax preparer?

Yes sir!

No more wondering IF owning a tractor will qualify you for farm status. No more wondering if your online ventures are figured and formatted into the right categories. No more wondering why your tax person didn’t use all of your charitable deductions, because YOU will become knowledgeable.

You can learn all about the pending IRS decisions on particular requirements, and get your own tax preparer certification.

Wouldn’t it be nice to ‘know’ that your own taxes were done properly? You’ll know because you completed them with all the knowledge you learned. You could even open up shop and do taxes for others. I know that people with home business, whether they’re dairy farmers, or goat cheese makers, beekeepers or Ebay sellers, they need someone with the skills to help them out, and that someone could be you!

We’re never to old to learn new skills!

milk goat

Colour
Although Sapphires can come in many colours the most famous is red, which of course we call ruby. The value of a sapphire is largely determined by colour, clarity, cut and carat although where it was found is also an important indicator.

The major indicator of value in a blue sapphire is how true blue the sapphire is. Most sapphires have a secondary hue., usually shades of purple or green. The primary blue hue must be at least 85% blue for a sapphire to be considered good quality.

Pink sapphires are the most valuable shade other than blue. Pink sapphires become more valuable as they approach the colour of ruby, without actually becoming ruby. They have recently become more common on the market due to a new technique called lattice diffusion.

Shape
The most unusual sapphire is the star sapphire which causes an odd star like reflection called an asterism. The largest sapphire with this odd reflection is called the Black Star of Queensland which is 733 carats. There is also the Star of India which is the more traditional blue colour and weighs 563.4 carats.

Rare sapphires even change colour depending on the light. These sapphires may look blue in outdoor light and purple in artificial light. There are other types that may look pink outside and green inside.

Jewelery

Sapphire can be used in jewelery to make necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. Check out some of these sapphire earrings from QP Jewellers.

Like most gemstones sapphires are often treated to improve their clarity. This is usually heat treatment at up to 1700 degrees centigrade in air which will improve the colour, but also remove inclusions (trapped rock etc). You would think that would be a good thing but it shows that the gem is not 100% natural. 100% natural stones will often come with a certificate to prove so.

One of the oldest sapphires is the Stuart Sapphire which was mounted on Queen Victoria’s state crown. Even though it is slightly flawed it dates back to 1214 and can be seen in the Tower of London.

sapphire earrings

How?

Save some green by doing your everyday shopping online!

Whether you’re shopping for Geeky Gadgets or vacuums, there are tons of places online to order. Then just sit back and wait for the big brown truck (or Fedex) to deliver your packages.

Easy as pie.

You can even save more money by looking online for discount coupons. Tons of stores have coupon codes. In fact, when you’re checking out, if you see a box for a code, then stop right there and go looking for your own discount code. They might be good for free shipping, discounted shipping, dollars off or a percentage off. Every little bit helps!

Don’t stop there. You can also find online coupons that you can print. Ones you can take to the grocery store, department store even some dollar stores take coupons.

Don’t stop!

You can also find discount codes for things like subscriptions, prescriptions (like Medifast coupons or a handy dandy Nutrisystem coupon code!)

There are a myriad of places to find these codes and once you start looking you’ll soon find your favorites.

Today, for instance, I ordered some toys, with free shipping. (Yes TOYS! It’s never too early to do a little holiday shopping!!)

money

Because of the durability of this sink, I’ll probably look long and hard at new stainless steel kitchen sinks. I’ll choose high quality so that it too can last decades!

And a couple of cats.

HOW, does one EVER take a little vacation when you have multiple dogs?

Did I mention they’re BIG dogs?

Sure, you can send them to a kennel.

Have you PRICED kennels? Have you priced kennels for multiple dogs? Multiple BIG dogs?

OUCH!

It’s more to secure a place for the dogs to sleep than it is for me!

So what do you do?

You look for a place that accepts dogs!

The condos in Alexandria VA are a prime example!

It just so happens that construction has started on the Isabella at Monticello Mews, the newest condos in Alexandria.

They are situated near DC. The community is access controlled and it has it’s own BARK PARK making it a great place for people who love dogs!

I work downtown. I see people walking their dogs at lunch. These are the people that either reside in one of the high-rise condos in downtown or in a nearby residential development, just blocks away.

It’s a very nice environment. Their pups get attention in the middle of the day!

Course, not sure that my country dogs would appreciate the confines of a condo. But there’s only one way to find out!

Visit.

Relax.

Take in the local sites, consider the great financing available, the free storage units, the high end kitchens, heavenly bathrooms, balconies, crown molding, solar tubes, and granite computer workstation (!!)

Did I mention the lap pool? The sun deck?

How about a poolside lounge and cabana? There’s even a fitness path, walking path, ON SITE shuttle, community fitness room, sports court, FRONT DESK ATTENDENT and UNDERGROUND parking!!!!

There’s even a separate freight elevator.

It’s like leaving the country behind.

Sure, big city living isn’t going to be for everyone, and I’m not sure they’d appreciate that I have ‘ahem’ several dogs… but it doesn’t hurt to look!

New stuff comes out all year! There’s no reason I need to wait until right before the holidays to order. Timing my purchases out throughout the year allows me to take advantage of sales, specials and my favorite, online coupons!

I wouldn’t think of buying at most stores without a coupon code. I love the ThinkGeek coupon and the Apple Store promo code as they really help take a bite out of a bigger purchase.

It makes me feel like I can get a little bit bigger or better gift if I can save money, and time, by shopping online with a coupon.

These days, most shopping cart software has some kind of coupon system the business owner can utilize. It’s easy, you set up your online coupon in many different variations, (dollars off, percentage off, free shipping,keyword etc) then make sure that your favorite online coupon/news source knows about your coupons, you know, like GeekAlerts!

GeekAlerts offers tidbits of information about the latest gadgetry, gizmos and geeky stuff. It’s a tech-heads dream come true.

The box squeaks.

Well, only when you handle it.

He was always excited to get the box and it disappeared into his office without me ever knowing what came in it.

Until one day…. I caught a glimpse of the return address.

Ah ha! Bossman belongs to a wine club!

So, I was intrigued and went looking for more info. Sure enough, mail order wine clubs ‘do’ exist. They open up the wine world to people offering many choice of wines, from just about anywhere.

If you’re into wine, you should consider a wine club. Then you too can have their arrival announced by that tell-tale squeaky box!

wine bottle in squeaky box

Then I thought maybe ‘tenders’ were caretakers. You know boat caretakers for rich folks that own yachts.

Ok, so I was way off.

So what ARE yacht tenders?

A yacht tender is basically a smaller boat that you use to go to and from your yacht from shore. They can be a small fiberglass boat with flexible air tubes around the edge (to protect the yacht should you bump into it). This boat would be used to bring passengers to the bigger boat and to use to gain supplies.

Sounds a little strange doesn’t it? Well we aren’t talking about even one of those BIG boats you might see on Lake Hefner or Tenkiller, no, we’re talking HUGE ocean going vessels.

yacht

But then again, think about it. Sure, you can pull your fishing boat up to the edge of any shore over at Thunderbird, or Eufaula, but what if you were in a sailboat? You can’t just pull up to the bank to get off, now can you?

parked sailboat

That would be the perfect time to pull out your little dingy, or ‘tender’. You know, Brooks Atkinson once said: “Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit.”

Makes sense doesn’t it?

Me, well I think I’ll make do with a rental fishing boat, on the lake that’s just a couple miles away, Think I’ll pack a lunch, grab some sodas and bait down at the Indian store, throw on a little sunscreen and a hat and make the day of lounging (and maybe a little fishing) in quiet solitude in the middle of the lake.

I was in my early twenties and it was ‘goodie’ day at the office. Someone brought a bowl of green goop.

I asked “What is THAT?”

“Guacamole!”

“Guaca-what?” I asked, and they explained what it was with their mouth full.

I tasted it with a corn chip and was HOOKED!

I ate way more than my share that day, that’s for sure!

I later attempted making it myself only to learn, after the fact, how to choose a ripe avocado! (They’re a little bit soft.) Needless to say, my first attempt didn’t turn out so well.

I’d say there are as many different guacamole dip recipes as there are people! Ok, maybe not ‘that’ many, but people make it different!

I like to take an avacado, smash it with a fork, add a dollop of mayo and a dollop of picante sauce, a little salt, and stir it up. It’s mighty tasty that way.

Course it’s also great on a turkey sandwich, or a hamburger and equally as fine on an omelette!

So, some guacamole fans don’t care for mayo in theirs, but that’s ok.

Ever made it with cream cheese? To die for!

Ever made it with plain yogurt? Smooth!

Ever made it with tons of veggies the way that many mexican style restaurants serve it? That’s not my favorite way of course, I think too many veggies in the mix takes away from the flavor.

Avocados are a GOOD FAT! Remember the old avocado commercials from the 70’s with Angie Dickinson? The avocado was touted as a diet food back then.

We should go back to that! Eating real foods with real fats for a really healthy lifestyle.

Now that I’ve made myself hungry, I’m going to add avocados to this week’s grocery list!

avocados

Actually I don’t have much choice. Seems like everyone I know is SO busy and most people end up picking something up on their way home from work every day.

Me?

I hate the time it takes to get off the interstate, get to the restaurant, order,wait, pickup, fight the traffic to get back onto the interstate only to get home 40 or so minutes later with cold food.

Part of the perils of country life.

I keep different foods on hand so that even though I’m busy too, I can throw something together really fast.

This time of year, I like to toss something on the grill. One real easy way to do that is to ‘hopefully’ have your steak or chicken thawed, then drizzle a little olive oil on it along with some seasonings and it’s good to go.

You can always saute a side dish right there on the grill! Sauteing has a couple of noted benefits — flavor and it speeds up the cooking time. I keep some enamel pans just for that purpose (for veggies) although some things can just be tossed on the grill. (Or in a foil boat!)

When I want to switch things up a bit, I buy some different gourmet olive oils. Take some broccoli and put it in a gallon ziplock, drizzle some flavored olive oil over it, add in some garlic, or peppers and maybe a tad bit of sea salt, and shake to coat.

These are delish grilled or can be put into a foil boat.

What’s a foil boat?

Take some heavy duty aluminum foil, place your food in the middle and then meet the edges in the middle, fold down, then fold up the ends. Tada, a foil boat.

Here’s a really ugly example….

banana foil packet

Yum.

Tonight, we’re having turkey breast cutlets painted with garlic olive oil and black pepper and grilled to perfection.